Gareth Southgate’s bold determination to promote youth will mean Tammy Abraham, Jordan Pickford and Ruben Loftus-Cheek making their senior debuts against Germany, and three under-21 forwards are likely to be drafted into the set-up for next week’s friendly with Brazil as the England manager resists the temptation to recall the old guard.

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Gareth Southgate’s bold determination to promote youth will mean Tammy Abraham, Jordan Pickford and Ruben Loftus-Cheek making their senior debuts against Germany, and three under-21 forwards are likely to be drafted into the set-up for next week’s friendly with Brazil as the England manager resists the temptation to recall the old guard.

Gareth Southgate has warned his England players that nobody should feel safe about their positions after a day of extensive changes that saw him axe Alex Oxlade‑Chamberlain from his latest squad as well as potentially ending the international careers of Daniel Sturridge and Jermain Defoe and announcing that Chris Smalling was also out because the Manchester United player was not good enough on the ball.

Paul Clement emerged for the post-match press conference with his tie removed and his shirt collar loosened slightly. It was down to the unexpected mid-October heat, he said, but a sense of a weight being lifted was palpable nonetheless.